Sunday, April 15, 2012

Build a Photo Booth For Fun Or Profit

You can build a photo booth to capture your friends and family's smiling faces at weddings, parties, or just for fun. If you have just a minimal amount of do it yourself skills, you too can build a decent photobooth.

What do I need to build a photo booth? Will I need any special tools or equipment?

The answer to that question depends on how fancy you want to get. If you are going for simplicity, you could simply hang curtains, and put a camera on a tripod. From there you can go on to add benches, permanent lighting, and a digital camera. If you are going to be building an actual booth, you'll need typical woodworkers or cabinet making tools.

Give your subjects the option to delete a photo of them.

Not everyone likes every picture taken of them. Make sure that your photobooth gives the subject the option to delete a picture and do a retake if desired. It's a good idea to have the lighting movable so as to give people the ability to avoid taking unflattering photos.

Plan your photo booth with enough space.

At weddings especially, guests like to take group shots. Keep that fact in mind when you are planning out your photobooth. Give them the opportunity to include all their friends in the shots. Make your benches large enough to accommodate a group of people.

Include a printer.

Guests will definitely want a copy of the photos. You may want to download all the pictures to give to the bride and groom too. Most printers will print out magnetic sheets of pictures, and this may be a great option to keep in mind. People love to have photos they can put on their fridge!

More and more, photo booths are becoming the must have item at parties and weddings. With a bit of ingenuity and skill, you can build a photo booth that will have everybody smiling.